A WOMAN caught out with a kitchen knife in a street has been sentenced by magistrates.

Marie Mclatchey appeared before magistrates for sentencing in January after entering a guilty plea to one count of possessing a knife blade or sharp-pointed article in a public place at an earlier hearing. 

The court heard from prosecutor Edward Handley that the 45-year-old, who said she was of Greete, Ludlow, at her previous hearing, but whose address was given as Trinity Road, Liverpool, at her sentencing, had been caught in possession of kitchen knife in Trinity Road, Bootle, Merseyside, without good reason or lawful authority, on October 18.

It is an offence to carry a knife or an offensive weapon in a public place, even if the person carrying it claims they were not intending to use it, and lawful reasons, such as carrying it for work or on the way to or from work must be demonstrated.

Mclatchey, who was represented at the hearing before Sefton Magistrates Court by defence solicitor Helen Dugdale, was handed a 20-week prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months as magistrates said there was a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation and due to her personal circumstances.

She was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £120 and a £154 victim surcharge.